In 2003 the next chapter of the GT3 story
was written. By now Porsche Motorsport had been given a little more freedom and
the result was a car with the expected boost in terms of performance but also a
number of detail changes. GT3-specific brakes and wheels, wider tires, an oil
cooler and stronger synchros for the gearbox, and more aggressive suspension
setting with unique carriers and split rear wishbones for increased camber
control. The engine’s displacement remained at 3.6-liters, but in order to
achieve higher revs there was a focus on reducing internal weight and friction.
Furthermore, the new drive-by-wire system required a huge amount of detail
tuning in order to match the throttle response of the original GT3. The result
was 357bhp at 7400rpm. Porsche engineers will now admit that the first GR3’s
360bhp was more like 355 and the Gen 2 car’s 375bhp was closer to 390, so
despite putting on 30kg we should feel quite a hike in performance terms.
We do. We really, really do. The Gen 2
feels so much faster, and all that work on the drive-by-wire system paid off,
because the way the engine responds in the mid-range is frankly astonishing.
You’d swear that the motor had grown a few hundred cc thanks to the additional
power, but it’s the way it eats through each gear so quickly that really marks
it apart. With the original GT3 you look forward to and savor the last 2000rpm
or so, with the Gen 2 you just throw gear at it, eyes growing wider with every
shift as the frenzy builds in intensity. Within a mile or so you’re smitten.
The
997 Gen 2 GTs still asks you to bring every bit of skill you’ve got to the
driver’s seat
Somehow I’d expected these two cars to be
very similar, separated only by nuance. That isn’t the case at all. The engine
is perhaps the most significant progression but there’s so much more. The
brakes are vastly better, with a much firmer, more consistent pedal, the
gearbox has greater precision, and outright grip has ramped up a significant
amount. However, although the car feels faster, angrier and has that sense of
invincibility that has come to characterize the GT3, the chassis’ more
track-focused nature makes it much more physically demanding to drive quickly
on the road. It follows cambers, the front wheels jump and skip over bumps and
sometimes it’ll leap half a car’s width to the left or right through roughly
surfaced corners. You can certainly make the performance and braking advantage
tell, but you’ll be beaten up in the process and have one or two seriously
heart-in-mouth moments.
Henry is adamant that his one true love is
the better road car. ‘Great engine, but the earlier car is suppler and much
more useable. You’re always on the right road in it, but with this sometime
that road never quite materializes and you don’t feel inclined to use the
performance’. I tend agree, and that’s a real shame as there’s certainly much
more traction available and the quality of the controls is top notch. On
smoother surfaces it has superb body control, excellent stability and you can
lean and lean on the rear tires with almost reckless abandon. That does bring a
little understeer but not enough to ever really slow your pace and I enjoy the
challenge of working the weight distribution to unlock the real magic. The
bumps will slow you down, though. You’ll either tire of the pummeling or have a
fright will rein in your enthusiasm. The next GT3 has PASM electronically
adjustable dampers – a cause of much consternation when it was launched – and
although I adore the Gen 2 996’s aggression and immediacy, I’m beginning to
think that to balance road and track performance it was the right move…
996
Gen 1 does its wheel-lifting party trick
Four years in the evolution of the 911
didn’t used to be a very long time, but in the last decade or so the pace of
development has been staggering. Want proof? Hop from a 2003-spec 996 GT3 to a
2007 992 GT3 and prepare to have your mind blown. Every dynamic element of the
package is transformed power, torque, agility, stability, body control, grip,
braking performance… The new car moves the game on to such an extent it beggars
belief. We’ve had the sweet, lithe feel of the original car, the more
aggressive and focused second generation and now we get the two expertly mixed
but with everything turned up to 12, maybe 15.
Again the intensity of the power delivery
reaches new heights. Power is up to 409bhp at 7600rpm and torque to 298lb ft at
5500rpm but the performance advantage feel greater than the numbers suggest.
Perhaps that’s because the PASM dampers work so well, rediscovering some of the
suppleness of the first GT3 and coupling that to a vast increase in grip thanks
to the wider tracks, improved suspension design and huge tires (305/30 ZR19s at
the rear). Such is the efficiency of the chassis that you find yourself much
more often in the really fiery part of the rev range – a reason to be grateful
for the also controversial fitment of traction control. Having said that, even
with the TC disabled the 997 covers ground at crazy speed and with real
security. So is the driving experience diminished due to the additional grip
and control? Not a bit. In fact such is the consistency of control that you
edge up to the limits quite readily and then discover a chassis of sublime
balance. The key to that is a front end with newfound levels of resistance to
under-steer combined with the torque to bring those fat rear Michelins into
play. Like the original GT3, the tires limits seem to be elastic and the 997
works so well fully hooked up, fully lit or anywhere in between. You never seem
to run out of options.
Like
the original GT3, the tires limits seem to be elastic and the 997 works so well
fully hooked up, fully lit or anywhere in between
The natural balance, then, is quite
remarkable. The engine – still 3.6 liters and now producing 113.6bhp per liter
– is tractable, fearsomely responsive in the mid-range and feels like a force
nature at the top end. However, the steering feel, the braking performance and
the now much heavier, shorter-throw gearbox have all kept pace, allowing you to
drive the car really hard without ever really thinking about the process. It
sounds mad that a hardcore 911 should be so intuitive but that’s exactly what
the 997 GT3 feels like. It inspires confidence. Henry might have a new
mistress. ‘Wow. Love the little stuff like the Alcantara for the steering wheel
and gearknob’, he says. ‘But I suppose that pales next to the engine and
chassis. So fast, so much control and the damping is superb. Maybe this is the
sweet spot’.
